"ROCKY ROADS"

Wanganui Herald, Volume XXXX, Issue 12053, 21 December 1906, Page 4

" ROCKY ROADS "

Thk many thousands of visitors whom we expect to visit Wanganui next week, however much they may be struck with our river are scarcely likely to be filled with admiration at the state of our streets. The present spell of dry, hot weather is daily supplying us with additional arguments against the dumping of round stones and fine gravel on the roadways, and in favour of placing theron broken metal instead. Nearly every street of the town is cutting up, the fine material powdering and the stones freeing them-

selves from their binding, with the result that our street mileage now more resembles the "rocky road to Dublin" than the thoroughfares of a well-ordered town. We <lo hope that the Borough Council will make an earnest c-ffort to' grapple with this question one of the fir3t items in their programme next year. Estimates are, of course, ready for macadamising and broken-metalling certain btreets, and information is being bought as to the cost of stone for street metalling. But flic Council ought to consider a comprehensive policy for all our streets, and go into the matter of whether it ia not better to abandon gravet altogether and go in for broken stone. If it cannot be done all at onee — and the cost would certainly be li«avy — it could at least be done gradually, and the citizens would most assuredly rather see the streets being got into decent condition, even gradually, than a perpetuation of the present mud after rain and dust anS stones after sun state of affairs. The go-ahead little town of Taihape, a short time ago, decided that it should put its main street into decent order, and the Council there put broken metal on it from side to side. The distance is only a quarter of a mile, but the street is now a capital one at a cost of <£300, and the Taihape people consider that they will save money by not having to be constantly doing tinkering repairs. Wanganui, six or seven times the age of Taihape, ha» not yet adopted broken metal for its streets. If any one will mount his bicycle aud ride through a few of our streets at the present time, taking note of the stone strewn surface and the dust Holes, he will agree that the matter of permanent improvement in place of makeshift repair is one that should be no Jonger delayed. Every stone lying about the streets is an argument in favour of this, and such arguments are multiplying daily.